Interview with Ms. Z

"From my experience, Chinese people in Japan are not very united. It’s rare to see us gathering to protest or even to help one another in times of need. Even in places like Ueno or Ikebukuro, where Chinese restaurants are clustered together, the reason is purely commercial—the business atmosphere draws people in. But beyond that, most Chinese here just go their own way, and there aren’t many grassroots organizations that bring us together.

As for me, most of my close friends in Japan are still Chinese. It’s actually quite hard to build meaningful friendships with Japanese people because of the cultural barriers. I once dated a Japanese man, and while we didn’t have any language problems, he couldn’t really understand Chinese customs—things like dowries, bride prices, or the expectation of treating others to meals. Those differences ran deep.

Even with Japanese acquaintances I’ve known for years, the distance remains. For example, I’ve gone to the same hairdresser for nearly a decade, yet he still speaks to me in polite honorifics. That kind of formal tone makes it clear that, no matter how long you’ve known each other, crossing into genuine closeness is very difficult."